$1 MILLION JACKPOT HALLANDALE WOMAN HITS THE BIG ONE

Patricia Mason felt lucky when she left Hallandale for a Las Vegas gambling junket.

"I said to some people before I left, 'I'm going to win big,' " Mason recalled Wednesday from the presidential suite of the Frontier Hotel-Casino. "But I didn't mean $1 million big."

The payoff to the 46-year-old car saleswoman was actually bigger -- $1,023,636.62.

Mason arrived at the hotel Tuesday afternoon and instead of going to her room or to her usual haunts -- the crap tables -- she headed for the slot machines.

"For some reason, I was drawn to this machine," she said.

Six hours of cranking the slot's handle and $385 later, the magic numbers appeared.

"The sevens rolled on the third line, I guess I said a few choice words, jumped out of the chair, did a few 360-degree turns and sat back down. Somebody says, 'You're a millionaire.' That's a little hard to handle," she said.

The jackpot was not announced until Wednesday afternoon because state gaming agents had to verify that the win was legitimate, said hotel spokesman Jim Seagrave. The machine had been installed less than two months ago.

Her winnings are thought to be the second largest in Las Vegas history, Seagrave said.

Mason, a widow, moved from her hometown, Oak Ridge, Tenn., about two years ago when she took a job in Hallandale for Autoputer, a new-car dealership.

Mason has a number of immediate plans that include keeping her job, hiring a financial consultant and buying a new car for an exceptionally friendly money changer at the casino who supplied the coins used in the jackpot machine.

"I have no idea what I'll do. This is all new to me. I do know I will continue to work, I may take a couple of days off, but I will go back to work," she said. "The reality of $1 million has not really hit me."